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A Case for Diversity

Over 200 years ago, the
founders of the United States realized that it was politically
unhealthy for a society to permit only one political point of view. The
corporate laws of most developed countries recognize that modern
business techniques require a number of different organizational
structures and management arrangements.

Regional and municipal councils
of Christian churches will attest to the positive synergy that rises
from ecumenical discussion. Biologists know that maximum biological
diversity is necessary for a healthy ecosystem. And any Midwest farmer
will tell you how cultivation of a single crop year after year in the
same place will kill the productivity of the soil.

That which is true of political
structures, rain forests, and corn fields is also true in the realm of
religious practice and spiritual development.

A Variety of Spiritual Paths

As Unitarian Universalists, our
living tradition draws from direct experience of the transcending
mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures. There are no boundaries
on the diverse ways we understand this mystery. The experience moves us
to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create
and uphold life. There are no restrictions on the myriad ways in which
we live out this reality.

Direct experience of the sacred
is given great value by those who follow an earth-based spirituality
or neo-pagan path within Unitarian Universalism, who believe that
humans require nurture of both the intellectual side of human nature as
well as the experiential or sensual side.

Within Unitarian Universalism,
the neo-pagan movement embraces a wide variety of different spiritual
paths and a rainbow of thea/ological orientations based on the
diversity of our experiences with transcending mystery. Within a
typical gathering of Unitarian Universalist neo-pagans, you may find
some who are in sympathy with Wiccan views. Others may be following
West African or Shinto traditions. Some may feel more comfortable with
Druidical teachings from the ancient Celts or look to Mayan or Norse
religious structures.

Still others may follow no specific tradition but revere direct experience of the sacred immanent within all creation.

A Rainbow of People

The Unitarian Universalist
living tradition also draws wisdom from the world's religions which
inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life. As interest in
earth-based traditions and neo-paganism grows, the category of world's
religions must be expanded to include these spiritual traditions with
ancient roots and modern applications.

Those of us in the Covenant of
Unitarian Universalist Pagans are a rainbow people, proud of our
diversity and open to the ever-creative and surprising newness of the
sacred.

What is Paganism?

Paganism is not new or unusual
in our modern life. For many people it exists less as an active
religion than as parts of our popular culture. Halloween costumes and
treats, Christmas trees and mistletoe, Easter bunnies and eggs, maypole
dances, harvest festivals and hundreds of other folkways began as
Pagan practices. Modern-day Pagans seek to restore the religious
context of these practices.

Defining Paganism

The origin of the word pagan is
from the Latin paganus, meaning a country dweller. When cities were
Christianized the people in the country continued to practice the old
religions. The word pagan took on the meaning of "those folks out there
in the sticks who still do all that old-fashioned stuff." Later it
came to mean any member of an indigenous folk or tribal religion or
anyone who was not "of the Book" (i.e., the Koran, Bible, Torah).

Pagan religions originated in a
time when people lived close to the land. Pagan theologies reflect an
awareness of nature with its cycles of the seasons, as well as the
cycles and seasons of human life. Such awareness is a common thread
among Pagans today. Few modern Pagans can fully know or follow how our
ancestors worshiped. Instead we invent and reinvent our religious
practices, and even our beliefs, as we determine how they resonate with
our contemporary lives. Some people prefer to use the word "Neopagan"
to describe this form of modern Paganism.

We capitalize the words Pagan
and Paganism in accordance with standard practices for religious names,
e.g., Buddhist and Buddhism, Muslim and Islam. Paganism is a vital,
genuine -- and growing! -- spiritual path.

What Pagans Believe

Modern Pagan theology is like a
great tapestry with strands originating in many distinct religious
traditions. Contemporary Pagans may embrace all or part of the Pagan
tapestry. Some Pagans explore their ethnic roots and discover the
indigenous practices of their ancestors. Others incorporate indigenous
practices that belong to a wide variety of cultures. Still other Pagans
follow newly created practices. Common among these Pagans is their tie
to nature in a way that resonates with their inner spiritual voice.

Some Pagans believe in the
Goddesses and Gods of the old religions and others do not. Many Pagans
understand deity as immanent, in everything, and believe revelation is
found in nature instead of written in scriptures. Some believe in an
afterlife and that their actions in this life will determine their
place in the next. Others believe only in this life and that their
actions here are all that matters. Still others believe in
reincarnation. Some Pagans believe in an active Spirit World while
others do not. Because Paganism is a non-creedal religion such
divergent beliefs can exist together under one religious name -- just
like in Unitarian Universalism!

Many modern Pagans find their
beliefs are very much in harmony with Unitarian Universalist
Principles, especially the reverence for "the interdependent web of
which we are a part."

Women and Paganism

Contemporary Paganism entered
the consciousness of the Unitarian Universalist community mostly
through its women members and their explorations of Women's
Spirituality. Their groundbreaking work paved the way for contemporary
Paganism as an active spiritual path for men and women in the UUA.

Through UU Adult Religious Education

The Goddess is a potent image
in contemporary Paganism. Many Unitarian Universalist women were
introduced to the Goddess through the religious education classes
"Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" and "Rise Up and Call Her Name". Some
women have chosen to focus exclusively on images of the Goddess who may
be maiden, mother, crone, teacher, lover, healer or death bringer.

The Diversity We Celebrate

God images, male faces of
Divinity, are also very much present and a part of modern Pagan
culture. Some women embrace the complement in a polytheistic view of
male Gods, who might be young, old, wise, tricky, strong, or physically
challenged. This multifaceted view of Gods provides an insight many
women seek in their relationships with men.

Although a significant minority
of women on the Pagan path choose to explore their spirituality by
worshipping exclusively with other women, the majority of contemporary
Pagans commonly worship in mixed gender groups. Many Pagan groups
explore the partnership of Goddess and God, using governance models of
equality and shared leadership.

Women Who Inspire and Teach Us

The modern Pagan movement owes
much to the women who shaped its direction and brought it to public
notice. Women like Starhawk, author of the best selling book Spiral
Dance, founder of Reclaiming Collective and the Compost coven, teacher;
Margot Adler, National Public Radio reporter, author of the pioneering
book Drawing Down the Moon, board member of CUUPS; Z Budapest, founder
of Dianic Wicca, author, teacher; Margaret Murray, anthropologist,
archaeologist, Egyptologist; Doreen Valiente, poet, teacher, author,
considered one of the most influential modern witches.

In addition to Margot
Adler, two other Unitarian Universalist women who greatly influenced
this movement are Rev. Shirley Ranck, author of "Cakes for the Queen of
Heaven", and Elisabeth Fisher, author of "Rise Up and Call Her Name".
Members of Cuups of FM having gone through the curriculum offer these workshops.